Time Enough
by Gedia Kacela
Summary: Remus gives Sirius one minute before he leaves, and after thirty years of friendship, they realize that they've been wasting time.


Time Enough

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't you know.

Author's Note: Well, Nita and Storm were asking me to write R/S slash, and so... here it is, a short vignette. Hope you enjoy.

***

It had been a beautiful wedding... perfect really, save for the part when Sirius had gotten a bit drunk and snogged his girlfriend when the reverend had told the new couple to kiss. But he pretended to ignore that, ignore how happy Harry and Ginny were, ignore the fact that he had brought no one with him to the wedding.

He hadn't wanted to come to the party afterwards, but Harry had insisted. He knew there would be no one to dance with- everyone else had a partner, a significant other. Not him. So he sat at the bar and drank some ungodly concoction that would leave him with a staggering headache come the morning. Perhaps he could slip out now. No one would notice. Besides, the music was starting to make his head throb.

He stood after paying for the little row of empty glasses in front of him and made his way through the door. At the threshold he cast one last look over his shoulder at Harry, but found himself looking at someone else entirely.

"Leaving so soon, Moony?"

He sighed. "Sirius. Foiling my escape as usual, I see. You always were rather good at that."

"I try, you know."

A smile, ever so small, tugged at his lips. "Yes, I do know. It's one of your more annoying qualities."

Sirius gave him a friendly nudge in the side. "Come off it, you know you like it."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was just leaving."

He caught Remus by the arm, preventing his escape. "Nonsense. The party's just getting started. You can't leave now."

The werewolf shook his head, annoyed. Why couldn't he just understand, just once? He hated seeing him and his girlfriend... what was her name? Eliz- Lil- Oh, what did it matter? "I can and I'm going to, Sirius." He tried to wrench his arm free but failed miserably. Leaning back against the wall, he stared pleadingly at his friend. "Just go back to your girlfriend, would you Padfoot?"

"I don't think I will." He gave him a strange look. "Do you know, you haven't called me Padfoot in ages?" Remus didn't answer. "Besides, I couldn't go back to her if I wanted to." He stared at his feet a moment.

"And bloody why not?"

He chewed absently on his lip. "She left," he said after a long pause.

"Oh." Well. He hadn't quite been expecting that. Perhaps he should feel bad. Then again, he had never liked her much anyway. But he had tolerated her, since she made Sirius happy. That was all he wanted. He didn't want to see that hollow look in his friend's eyes anymore and he would have done anything to make it go away.

After a long pause, during with Lupin pointedly ignored Sirius' gaze, he looked up. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He met Lupin's golden stare with a sly smile. "Something about how she couldn't stand being around me while I fancied someone else."

It figured. Another girl. Probably some skinny, blonde thing he spotted at the pub. There were always skinny blonde things, prancing in and out of Black's flat. He wasn't sure how many there were... they all looked the same. He'd ceased trying to remember names, as he simply didn't care. "I see," he responded dully. Suddenly, he noticed that Sirius still had a hold on his wrist. His palm was hot against his skin, but not uncomfortably so. He didn't mind it really, but... he should go. "Will you let me leave now?"

The smile broadened mischievously. "Don't you want to hear?"

"About the latest object of your adamant affections? Quite frankly, no."

"But I want to tell!" His lower lip pouted out. "You're the only one who'll ever listen to me anymore."

"Probably because I'm the only one who can stand you," he retorted.

"Exactly my point!" He looked triumphant. "Besides, I can't tell Harry this sort of stuff. He has a girl, so he's not supposed to hear about such things anymore. But you... you don't have anyone... do you, Moony?"

"No," he growled, rather irritably. "Thank you for bringing up the fact."

"Anytime," he grinned. "So... you'll listen?"

Remus sighed. "You have one minute."

His friend leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. "Well, they're great, really. Tall, skinny, good figure."

"Surprise, surprise."

"Not only that, but they're smart. Brilliant really. And their eyes are the most gorgeous ones I've ever seen. Like golden moons."

Remus glanced over at the dance floor, where couples were still swaying slowly, heads nestled together. "Fascinating," he sighed. "Brains and beauty. Are you certain that they won't figure out that they'd be better off without you?"

The comment took him aback, but he recovered quickly and raised his hand to Lupin's face, turning it towards him. Then he spoke, his voice low and strange, his dark, haunted eyes staring at Remus. "You haven't yet."

He blinked, unsure of anything else to do. "Wh... what?"

"You, Moony. It's always been you, don't you see? We've been friends since practically the day we met."

A hesitant smile flickered over his face. "I remember."

"On the train?"

He nodded. Oh yes.

__

Remus stood, half-hidden by the pillar, watching the other witches and wizards board the Hogwarts Express. No one noticed him, the puny, blonde-haired boy with the golden eyes. He didn't want to go to Hogwarts. He wanted to stay at home, where it was safe, where he couldn't hurt anyone. Headmaster Dumbledore had promised him that arrangements would be made... but... what if something happened? What if he bit someone? He could never forgive himself.

"Hey!" came a voice at his side, and he jerked, half-crouching in reflex. At his right stood a black-haired boy with brown eyes and a large smile. "Hey!" he exclaimed again, sticking his hand out in an imitation of adult politeness. "I'm Sirius. It's a star."

Remus stared at the proffered hand for several seconds, not even smiling at the other boy's enthusiasm. Finally, he accepted the hand and allowed his fingers to be squeezed heartily. "Remus Lupin," he introduced himself softly.

"Cool name. Not as cool as mine though. Is a Remus a star too?" Before he could respond, the raven-haired boy had caught him by the hand and was dragging him, bags and all, onto the train. 

And so it had begun.

It was nearly thirty years later now, as they both stood here. Sirius was still clasping his wrist, ready to drag him off on another of his adventures. He was right. It had always been them. At Hogwarts, there had been James and Peter too, but those two had never quite been able to make it into the exclusive duo of Remus and Sirius. They were inseparable, always had been.

He blinked again, then stared hard at Sirius. This wasn't another one of his jokes, was it? "Padfoot..." he said, a desperate edge to his voice. This was what he wanted, but he was so scared...

"Shh," he whispered, his hand cradling the back of Lupin's neck as he pressed his mouth to his and tilted the blonde head back. His lips were warm and soft as they pressed insistently against him, claiming his mouth after far too many years. Remus gasped once and his hand flew up to Sirius' arm in a sudden reflex. But after a moment, he relaxed and found himself kissing his friend back, heat suddenly flooding his body. His fingers gripped the material of Sirius' suit jacket, his mind awhirl. 

For a moment, reality blurred and it seemed as if he had stepped outside of time. All he heard was the pounding of his heart and all he felt was the electricity between them and the hot touch on his skin.

When it was over and Sirius had stepped back, Remus stared, wide-eyed, up at him, his chest moving rapidly. "I told you that you had one minute."

His friend shrugged. "I never could tell time, you know." And before Remus could respond, Sirius bent his head to his friend's. His mouth inches from Lupin's, he whispered, "Shut up for once, would you Moony, and dance with me." Then their lips were touching again, and Lupin couldn't have spoken if he wanted to. 

So he just danced.

END


End file.
